On Cancer: Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Collaboration with IBM Watson Featured on CBS This Morning

The Tuesday, July 9, episode of CBS This Morning included a segment about a new tool to help improve medical decision making, built on the supercomputer IBM Watson. Mark G. Kris, Chief of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s ThoracicOncology Service, and Carol Jaxel, one of Dr. Kris’s patients, were interviewed about the benefits this new technology can bring to cancer care.

Dr. Kris and a team of physicians and analysts at Memorial Sloan Kettering have been “training” IBM Watson for more than a year to help medical professionals choose the best diagnostic and treatment plans for individual cancer patients. The system is based on a vast amount of clinical data and research as well as wisdom gleaned from decades of expertise in treating cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

One of the goals of this project is to improve the quality of care delivered to people with cancer no matter where they are located. The need for the new technology arises from the increasing complexity of cancer treatment and the fact that most cancer patients are not treated at specialized medical centers.

IBM Watson, which became famous after its appearance on the TV game show Jeopardy! in 2011, when it beat two all-time champions, is capable of learning with every encounter, continually getting smarter.

Comments

Submitted by Tom Watson | Monday, July 15, 2013 - 10:58 AM.

Train the computer to do the job of a doctor, and in time computers will REPLACE doctors. Your IBM computer will get "smarter" than doctors, and it will claim the authority in medical decision making in due time. We have robots in the OR already - Da Vinci ROBOTIC SURGERY. In the future human beings will have to fight with man made artificial intelligance to win back their humanness. You are welcoming artificial intelligence and arificial beings in the SACRED space of human BEINGS. Read this as an illustration of what is expecting us here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near, and think twice before welcoming robots into our human lives.
We are what we do!

Submitted by Allen Douma MD | Thursday, July 25, 2013 - 1:59 PM.

MSKCC's work with IBM/Watson is truly world changing in incredibly positive ways. As with any better tool, as it improves quality and efficiency, some will need to adapt to take full advantage. Those who do will be the leaders of our future in medicine. We need to communicate to all audiences to best set the stage for optimum use of this new tool.

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cancer (KAN-ser)

A term for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and can invade nearby tissues. Cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. There are several main types of cancer. Carcinoma is a cancer that begins in the skin or in tissues that line or cover internal organs. Sarcoma is a cancer that begins in bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, or other connective or supportive tissue. Leukemia is a cancer that starts in blood-forming tissue such as the bone marrow, and causes large numbers of abnormal blood cells to be produced and enter the blood. Lymphoma and multiple myeloma are cancers that begin in the cells of the immune system. Central nervous system cancers are cancers that begin in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord. Also called malignancy.

Source: The National Cancer Institute's Dictionary of Cancer Terms(http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary)

clinical (KLIH-nih-kul)

Having to do with the examination and treatment of patients.

Source: The National Cancer Institute's Dictionary of Cancer Terms(http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary)

oncology (on-KAH-loh-jee)

The study of cancer.

Source: The National Cancer Institute's Dictionary of Cancer Terms(http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary)

physician (fih-ZIH-shun)

Medical doctor.

Source: The National Cancer Institute's Dictionary of Cancer Terms(http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary)

referral (reh-FER-ul)

In medicine, the act of a doctor in which a patient is sent to another doctor for additional healthcare services.

Source: The National Cancer Institute's Dictionary of Cancer Terms(http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary)

thoracic (thor-A-sik)

Having to do with the chest.

Source: The National Cancer Institute's Dictionary of Cancer Terms(http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary)

will (wil)

A legal document in which a person states what is to be done with his or her property after death, who is to carry out the terms of the will, and who is to care for any minor children.

Source: The National Cancer Institute's Dictionary of Cancer Terms(http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary)